Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday said the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau was procuring a surveillance system that could be used to conduct illegal surveillance and violate human rights.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) told a press conference that the bureau was inviting bidders to provide a high-tech surveillance system.
He said the system, valued at around NT$60 million (US$1.85 million), will be able to monitor 300 telephone and cellphone calls simultaneously and can be operated from a vehicle.
PARKING LOT SPIES
“With the surveillance system, the bureau would be able to monitor most telephones in the legislature and in all offices and cellphones near the legislature and even phones in the nearby Control Yuan simply by parking a surveillance vehicle near the legislature,” Gao said.
The legislator said the Communications Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法) banned placing surveillance equipment inside or near a building, and that the proposed surveillance system would easily contravene the Act.
Gao said he was concerned that the bureau would use the equipment to conduct political surveillance.
COURT PERMIT
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said the law stipulates that monitoring telephones and cellphones can be carried out only with court permission.
Wang said he suspected the bureau would monitor phones without seeking permission from a judge.
If this kind of surveillance were allowed, Taiwan risked becoming a police state, Wang said.
FOLLOWING THE LAW
In response, the bureau said it would only use any surveillance equipment it procures legally and would seek court permission.
The bureau said it would not scrap its plans to procure the surveillance system.
The Presidential Office yesterday said the administration was not buying surveillance equipment to conduct illegal eavesdropping.
HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is categorically opposed to illegal phone-tapping and wanted to build Taiwan into a country with respect for human rights.
Wang said state intelligence agencies would not cross the line between legal and illegal.
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